Imitating synapses of the human brain could lead to smarter electronics

Making a computer that learns and remembers like a human brain is a daunting challenge. The complex organ has 86 billion neurons and trillions of connections -- or synapses -- that can grow stronger or weaker over time. But now scientists report the development of a first-of-its-kind synthetic synapse that mimics the plasticity of the real thing, bringing us one step closer to human-like artificial intelligence.